News / National
Accidents statistics rile ZRP
19 Jul 2017 at 06:37hrs | Views
ZRP has reacted angrily to statistics showing an increase by over 100 000 in the number of accidents between 2015 and 2016, accusing The Herald of cooking up the figures despite them having been published by the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (ZimStat) on their official website.
In a tirade-laden statement yesterday, police claimed they last gave statistics to ZimStat in 2015. ZimStat posted the statistics under a document titled "quarterly digest of statistics for first quarter 2017" and dated June 2017, which clearly indicates the statistics came from Police General Headquarters.
"In this case, Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency was officially last given road traffic accident statistics in 2015, meaning to say for the past two years they have not received any statistics from us. Therefore, all figures in this article referring to 2015, 2016 and first quarter of 2017 are false and should be dismissed outright," said the ZRP.
The ZRP, which appeared miffed by assertions that their heavy presence had not translated to taming the traffic jungle, said accidents had gone down from 41 494 in 2015 to 38 620 in 2016. Heavy police presence on the road has not translated to reduced accidents.
Zimbabwe Union of Drivers and Conductors president Mr Fredereck Maguramhinga yesterday implored ZRP to reduce roadblocks. "Today, I saw six spot checks from Mbare to the city centre. We do not know whether this is the reduction they were talking about," he said.
Mr Maguramhinga said as drivers they were also working flat out to reduce road accidents. "Mounting many roadblocks does not change anything. What is needed is to ensure that the one or two roadblocks are effective and not the current situation where we see drivers without licences passing through the so-called spot checks. What does that mean?" he said.
Police are adamant the roadblocks are necessary. Last week, police Commissioner-General Dr Augustine Chihuri fired a salvo at people criticising heavy police presence on national roads, saying such people had sinister intentions.
In a tirade-laden statement yesterday, police claimed they last gave statistics to ZimStat in 2015. ZimStat posted the statistics under a document titled "quarterly digest of statistics for first quarter 2017" and dated June 2017, which clearly indicates the statistics came from Police General Headquarters.
"In this case, Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency was officially last given road traffic accident statistics in 2015, meaning to say for the past two years they have not received any statistics from us. Therefore, all figures in this article referring to 2015, 2016 and first quarter of 2017 are false and should be dismissed outright," said the ZRP.
The ZRP, which appeared miffed by assertions that their heavy presence had not translated to taming the traffic jungle, said accidents had gone down from 41 494 in 2015 to 38 620 in 2016. Heavy police presence on the road has not translated to reduced accidents.
Zimbabwe Union of Drivers and Conductors president Mr Fredereck Maguramhinga yesterday implored ZRP to reduce roadblocks. "Today, I saw six spot checks from Mbare to the city centre. We do not know whether this is the reduction they were talking about," he said.
Mr Maguramhinga said as drivers they were also working flat out to reduce road accidents. "Mounting many roadblocks does not change anything. What is needed is to ensure that the one or two roadblocks are effective and not the current situation where we see drivers without licences passing through the so-called spot checks. What does that mean?" he said.
Police are adamant the roadblocks are necessary. Last week, police Commissioner-General Dr Augustine Chihuri fired a salvo at people criticising heavy police presence on national roads, saying such people had sinister intentions.
Source - the herald
